My childhood holidays were spent either on the North Wales coast
or in Blackpool. Both of these places were only a couple of
hours drive from home. But when I reached my teenage years my
parents set their sights on further afield - Lincolnshire to be
precise.

Introduction

My
uncle had recently moved jobs and was now working as
manager of the Blue Anchor site in Ingoldmells. In
the 70s there was no easy way across country from
Stoke to Skegness so our journey to the coast took
on mammoth proportions compared to our usual holiday
trips.

However, there was a bonus to this as I managed to
see a a group of amusement parks that, up until
then, I had only been able to catch tantalising
glimpses of in holiday brochures.

In
many ways the parks at Skegness and Mablethorpe in
the mid 70s provided a snapshot of all the current
fairground favourites but they also had their share
of unusual attractions which makes them worthy of
taking a trip back in time.

Skegness had grown from a small coastal village
into a thriving resort following the dawn of the age
of the train and industrial holidays in the 1930s.
Trains transported workers from the Midlands and
Yorkshire for a week's holiday taking in the area's
bracing air. This particular resort also caught the
attention of one Billy Butlin. When the famous
showmen first came to the resort in 1927 it was
little more than two streets and a short promenade.
But he had faith in the town's future as a booming
seaside resort. He acquired a small piece of land on
the seafront and at Easter of that year set up a
Lighthouse Slip (or Helter Skelter), home made
Haunted House, small electric car track and four
hooplas. The following year he added a Scenic
Railway and acquired a second amusement park in Mablethorpe. Within a few years he was operating two
parks in Skegness at Grand Parade and North Parade.

These parks acted as a forerunner to Butlin's much
loftier ambitions which were to become reality in
nearby Ingoldmells. At Easter 1936 Butlin's Luxury
Holiday Camp opened its gates to its first guests.
Over the years an amusement park became an essential
part of the entertainment offered to visitors. This
site was to become the model for many other camps
around the country. Eventually Butlin's empire
expanded to even include holiday centres in the
Caribbean. He sold the larger of his two Skegness
parks at Grand Parade to Botton Bros in 1965 and
closed down the park on North Parade four years
later.

Let's take a look at the delights that were on offer
to fun seekers in the mid 70s at Skegness,
Ingoldmells and Mablethorpe.

Skegness at the dawn of the 1970s, with the Wild
Mouse roller coaster in the former Butlin's
Amusement Park in the background. Picture:
Nick Laister Collection

This 1934 photograph shows the Butlin's Amusement
Park in Skegness, with the Scenic Railway and
Haunted House visible. In only two years, Butlin
would open his first holiday camp nearby.
Picture: Nick Laister Collection